03/03, 5:13pm

Austin-based music fest app will rely on 1,000 iBeacons to offer location-based info

The official SXSW music fest app for iOS and Android, SXSW Go, will tie into a network of 1,000 iBeacons placed around the festival's various venues to help users connect to friends, ensure they are at the right location, and let them know what events are scheduled at the venue they are in now, among other helpful information. Non-attendees can also use the app to view video feeds from various events.

01/06, 1:49am

Low energy iBeacons for enterprise customers utilize TI chipsets

At CES on Monday, the iBeek beacon by Bluvision was deployed today at the Texas Instruments (TI) booth. When a device with Bluvision's CMS platform, BluZone, comes into proximity, the beacons will provide information and an interactive experience for visitors. The system was designed to provide accurate tracking using minimal energy with large-scale deployments, such as equipment tracking in a warehouse, in mind. However, the beacons can be customized for home automation, wearables, and other applications, the company says.

10/20, 11:31pm

Major League Baseball, which has taken the role of unabashed cheerleader for several of Apple's financial and retail technology initiatives including Passbook and iBeacons, has announced another embrace -- this time, Apple Pay. Both of the two MLB stadiums involved in this year's World Series will be accepting Apple Pay for concessions starting with the event, which begins on Tuesday. San Francisco's AT&T Park and Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium will both have the hardware on hand for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users.

09/09, 12:17am

Apple Stores, McDonalds also said to be receiving upgraded beacons, NFC terminals

Ahead of an expected announcement of an Apple-led mobile payments solution, there have been new reports that prominent retailers such as Disney Stores, McDonald's and Apple's own retail stores have joined the ranks of businesses receiving new, upgraded NFC readers and iBeacon sensors as required. The system, if successful, could offer a future alternative to the planned move to a "chip and PIN" credit- and debit-card system already widely in use in Canada and Europe.

07/08, 11:40pm

A new report from ABI Research claims that the technology behind Apple's iBeacons is set to expand on a massive scale over the next five years, thanks to new applications that will make use of the "indoor GPS" abilities and personal notification services of Bluetooth LE-powered beacons. While Apple is the best-known "brand" of Bluetooth-enabled sensors with its iBeacon hardware and technology catching on, the study says Apple is unlikely to get into making the actual hardware that will generate $500 million a year by 2019.

07/07, 9:10pm

Alerts passengers to air delays, offers seat upgrades or changes, more

The latest company to announce the incorporation of Apple's iBeacon technology into its company workflow is European discount airline EasyJet, which announced on Monday that it will begin installing the devices in select airports in the UK and Europe to test effectiveness. It plans on rolling out the technology on a greater scale over the summer. Users of the just-updated EasyJet iOS app can opt to receive alerts from the "indoor GPS" hardware regarding flight changes and other information.

05/08, 12:05am

Retail-oriented technology has promise to become quiet industry powerhouse

On the heels of Virgin Atlantic announcing a pilot program deploying Apple's iBeacon in its lounges, drugstore chain Walgreens subsidiary Duane Reade is now planning to use the Bluetooth-powered "micro-location" technology in 10 of its Manhattan stores, to match a larger-scale Walgreens rollout.

05/02, 7:27pm

Virgin Atlantic airlines is now rolling out a pilot program for Bluetooth-based iBeacons to be stationed throughout Heathrow Airport's Terminal 3, in an effort to "provide a greater customer experience" for travellers, the airline said. The proximity-based technology, which can send push notifications to those who permit it as information becomes relevant, can alert users of facilities in the lounge, pull up boarding passes as flyers approach the gates, or update flight status.

04/16, 6:50pm

Veteran embedded chip and automotive systems maker Texas Instruments has announced plans to incorporate Apple's iBeacon technology in many of the company's forthcoming Bluetooth products, saying that "there are many more applications that could benefit from the technology" beyond its presence popular use in retail shops, restaurants and stadiums. TI will be adding iBeacons to its SimpleLink line of automotive micro-controllers, and it WiLink navigation systems.

04/08, 8:37pm

A Dutch startup called LabWerks is introducing a new platform aimed at museums, called mApp, that incorporates Apple's iBeacon technology to allow staffers to quickly and easily roll out interactive exhibits, potentially revolutionizing the mini-industry of museum tour self-guidance. The customizable mApp platform lets institutions use iBeacons that only trigger when visitors come within range of an exhibit, room or area of the museum where more information is available.

03/31, 11:01pm

Exhibit helps Westerners understand the fear of living in area with land mines

To help promote awareness of land mines and international efforts to clear them from former battlefields around the world, a museum in New York City will be hosting an exhibit utilizing Apple's iBeacon technology, headphones and an iOS or Android app to create a "virtual minefield." The idea, part of the UN International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action being held on April 4, is to allow users to experience the fear of land mines.

01/16, 4:22pm

Support for iBeacons building slowly

Shopkick has announced a trial of iBeacon installations at 100 American Eagle Outfitter stores, including ones belonging to sibling brand Aerie. The implementation will be the largest deployment of iBeacons at a clothing chain so far, following one of its own at Macy's, which was the inaugural retail use of iBeacons. The technology only began deploying at Apple Stores a couple of weeks later.

01/06, 7:09pm

Safeway, Giant Eagle in some cities to get iPhone coupons, offers

A new campaign dubbed "Mobile to Mortar" by inMarket is bringing Apple's Bluetooth LE-powered iBeacon technology to over 200 Safeway and Giant Eagle grocery stores in Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle. The "beacons," tiny signalling devices about the size of a quarter, would alert shoppers who have a Safeway app, or have set up specific reminders, of things such as applicable coupons, items they listed to buy or special offers as they enter a store.

09/25, 10:42pm

May be first public use of Apple's NFC replacement, iBeacons

Though pundits and Android fans have often derided Apple for not including the technology known as "near-field communications" (NFC) into its products, the technology thus far has seen very limited use and slow growth. In part, the pressure put on Apple was designed to goad the company into kicking NFC into the mainstream. In response, Apple created an alternate technology it calls "iBeacons," -- and has quietly used it for possibly the first time in a new setup option for third-gen Apple TVs.